Microsoft to Acquire Discord for Over $10 Billion

According to current rumors, the next takeover by Microsoft could be imminent. According to Bloomberg, the company is in talks with Discord. The goal is a $10 billion acquisition, as reported by people familiar with the matter.

According to Bloomberg, the talks took place with several potential buyers and the software giant Microsoft was in the running. However, the sources also emphasized that no deal is imminent and that going public on its own is more likely than a complete sale. Representatives from Microsoft and Discord did not want to comment on the rumors and speculation.

The US company Discord gives users the opportunity to communicate via video, voice, and text. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of the service also increased in areas beyond gaming.

The communication tools have been changed so that there is not only one gamer-centric chat platform. Developed by Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy and released to the public in 2015, Discord has over 100 million monthly active users.

“Microsoft possibly acquiring Discord makes a lot of sense as it continues to reshape its gaming business more toward software and services,” said Matthew Kanterman, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “There’s a big opportunity to bundle Discord’s premium offering, Nitro, into the Game Pass service to drive more subscriptions from the last reported 18 million.”

“We expect Xbox to remain acquisitive to keep bolstering the value proposition of Game Pass and drive subscriptions higher,” added Kanterman.

Microsoft earns a lot of money with software and network services, which Redmond regularly invests. The console business, which has been ailing in the last generation, is also being strengthened with the funds, which led to the acquisition of numerous developer studios and a publisher. Microsoft paid a whopping $7.5 billion for the Bethesda parent company Zenimax Media.